"Fishing is a priority for this government in Brexit and we are prepared for any possible scenario", says Luis Planas

Luis Planas recalled that there are three situations in the fisheries sector related to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: the Spanish boats that fish in British waters; the British- and Spanish-flagged boats that also operate in those waters; and the Spanish boats fishing around the Falkland Islands.

The key, said the Spanish minister, is reciprocity in access to British waters and resources and access for products from the United Kingdom to European markets. He went on to say that the priority objective is to maintain access to fish stocks in waters of the United Kingdom under the same conditions as today.

If an agreement can be reached, he said, this will be applied during a transitional period up to December 2020 and probably beyond, as indicated by the latest news coming out of the negotiations. If no agreement is reached, contingency plans will need to be applied that are going to affect the logistics and business plans of these companies.

He explained that permanent contact is being maintained with the fisheries sector and its organisations in order to keep them informed and enter a dialogue on the measures to be adopted and offer a joint response to the problems that may arise.

Non official translation